Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday took a jibe at his former deputy Sachin Pilot in a veiled attack and said that his demand for compensation to candidates affected by paper leaks shows "intellectual bankruptcy" while also saying that the opposition has started talking about the issue as they don't have any other matter to target the government over. After addressing a newly-constructed state-of-the-art bus terminal at the Jaipur Central Bus Stand, Sindhi Camp in the evening, he asked whether all 26 lakh students who took the exam should get compensation because the paper got leaked.
"Since the opposition does not have any issue, it has started talking about the paper leak and is saying give compensation to them (the candidates). Give compensation to the 26 lakh people who took the exam? The papers got leaked, so they should get compensation? Such a demand is made that the papers got leaked, so they (candidates) should get compensation. What would you call this? Would this not be called intellectual bankruptcy?" CM Gehlot remarked, as quoted by news agency PTI.
He further asked, "In the history of the world, has anyone ever demanded that since papers got leaked, the children who could not take the exam should be given compensation? Can the government give it?" He stressed that in the paper leak case, his government enacted a law and put the accused in jail, which no other state has done.
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His remarks came days after Pilot demanded compensation for the affected candidates which were later also endorsed by some BJP leaders. Apart from this, other demands that Pilot had put forth are reconstituting the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) by disbanding it and forming a high-level committee in order to investigate corruption during the past BJP rule.